To the Editor:

Jonathan Tobin's withering criticism of our report on anti-government conspiracy theories misses the point and ascribes false motives to our effort to document a growing climate of fear and rage in America ("ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics," Nov. 18).

Nowhere did we "bash" Obama's critics.  In fact, we were very careful not to frame our analysis in a partisan manner.  Nor did we characterize the tea parties or town hall protests themselves as "a threat to democracy."  The report analyzes connections and line-blurring between mainstream and extremist, and highlights the danger of such interaction.  It addresses conspiracy theories, ideology and movements in order to highlight the challenge our society faces when extremist theories take hold in the mainstream – and when mainstream figures pour fuel on the fire.

The lessons of history have taught us that it is critical to look at and expose how such extremism can move easily into mainstream and take hold, especially in uncertain times.